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A review by zyderm
Playground by Aron Beauregard
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.0
If you’ve heard all of the recommendations for this book, ignore them. I went into this book knowing nothing about it aside from it was well recommended.
I ended up with a copy of this book from my sisters colleague, who is a published author and used to work at penguin publishing. She raved about this and called it a pinnacle of modern horror. A complete load of shit.
Any bad reviews you read about this are true, including the authors particularly misogynistic writing. His blurb at the back states he has a wife, but I refuse to believe that since this reads like he’s never touched a woman in his life, and in fact seems like he’s actively disgusted by women’s personal parts.
The authors writing is exceptionally juvenile, and were it not for the subject matter, his writing combined with the illustrations included would lead me to believe this was ya. He also has odd wording choices “a single tear pissed out of his eye” that he uses consistently and that quickly became irritating.
The worst part is I think the author may have actually been trying to write a mature book that was disgusting and at times clearly intended to be emotional and impactful. However everything comes off extremely comical, the end had me laughing, the rest I was amused or annoyed by. Writing for these characters is non existent. I wouldn’t recommend this to anybody unless you actively like schlocky garbage.
I ended up with a copy of this book from my sisters colleague, who is a published author and used to work at penguin publishing. She raved about this and called it a pinnacle of modern horror. A complete load of shit.
Any bad reviews you read about this are true, including the authors particularly misogynistic writing. His blurb at the back states he has a wife, but I refuse to believe that since this reads like he’s never touched a woman in his life, and in fact seems like he’s actively disgusted by women’s personal parts.
The authors writing is exceptionally juvenile, and were it not for the subject matter, his writing combined with the illustrations included would lead me to believe this was ya. He also has odd wording choices “a single tear pissed out of his eye” that he uses consistently and that quickly became irritating.
The worst part is I think the author may have actually been trying to write a mature book that was disgusting and at times clearly intended to be emotional and impactful. However everything comes off extremely comical, the end had me laughing, the rest I was amused or annoyed by. Writing for these characters is non existent. I wouldn’t recommend this to anybody unless you actively like schlocky garbage.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism